Eyes of Fire
by Evil's Muse
Summary: Sauron's former right hand man, a girl Legolas cared for as a child. Are they related? What happends when they each meet after all the long years?
1. Beginning of Doom

Disclaimer: i own none of the lord of the rings stuff-but i do own the "Making of the Movie Trilogy" book!!  
  
Author's Note:  
  
Um, yeah. If you want to find out about what happened to the little girl/baby-read A Choice Between Lives by Stary Night-although something happens in between my story and hers-it'll give you more of an understanding about later...stuff. Oh, yeah-the little girl in her story is named Kama-but her original name was Simbelmyne-just so ya know. okay, on with the show! i mean story!  
Eyes of Fire  
  
Beginning of Doom  
  
It had finally happened. He had been found. They were coming for him.  
  
"Quick!" he shouted. "Get out of here!" he hurried his wife with their small infant daughter in her arms out the door to the stables.  
  
The mob of monsters drew closer as the woman mounted her horse and strapped her baby to her chest.  
  
"Go now!" the man told her. "I will find you!"  
  
"NO! I can't leave you!" screamed the woman. "They'll kill you!"  
  
The man didn't argue with her. Their time was growing short.  
  
"Just ride! I will catch up with you!" He slapped the horse's flank and it went running through the town's streets. His wife melted into the crowd of fleeing villagers, and he stepped out of the stables, positioning himself to distract the beasts from his loved ones.  
  
The wild men and brutish orcs advanced upon the town, and when they had spotted him and were but a moment away, he turned and ran. A couple of the orcs in front turned to go after him, while the rest spread out to rampage the village.  
  
The man sprinted wildly around houses and through stables with orcs close behind him. The scar on his face began to burn.  
  
He was nearing exhaustion when he reached the outskirts of the town. There were already wild men and orcs swarming around, bringing down anyone and everyone they came across.  
  
The screaming and crying of women and children rang in his ears. He looked around and spotted his wife, still on her horse trying to make her way through the crowd. Just as she broke free and began to run away, an arrow came barreling down on her. Two more followed. The man yelled and rushed over to her, but his wife was dead.  
  
"No!!" he cried. He wasn't allowed much time, however, for several orcs were heading right for him with their swords drawn.  
  
He fumbled to retrieve his baby from his wife's bloody corpse. He was not quick enough.  
  
One orc seized the child from his hands while another threw him to the ground. The orc with the baby then pushed the dead mother off the horse's back and began to run off with the horse and baby.  
  
The man struggled to his feet and tried to run after his daughter. "Simbelmynë!" he gasped. As soon as he was up though, another orc hit him across the face, reopening his old scar. With this he mustered up what was left of his strength, and aided by rage, he unsheathed his sword and engaged in battle with the over-grown goblin.  
  
"Arg!" he screamed as their two swords clashed. He drew back quickly then swung at the creature's thick neck. A moment later its head rolled off its neck and its body fell to the ground.  
  
Immediately after, another orc attacked him. He took out orc after orc, but eventually began to tire. One beast took this chance to bear down on the man, who did his best to defend himself, but was not too successful. The orc pounded the man; hit him around until he was bleeding and semi- unconscious. Then the orc left with the rest of the marauding band, leaving the village in ruin and the man alone to die. 


	2. A Tragic find

NOTE: Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I've been extremely busy. No really? Anyway-here's more!  
  
A Tragic Find  
  
Screaming, crying, shrieking. People running everywhere. Blood in his eyes. Where was Hithlain? Where was his daughter, Simbelmynë? Everything was spinning; things began to grow dark. The once piercing screeching faded away into whispers.  
  
"My lord! He is yet alive!" It was a light, airy, man's voice. "Just barely breathing."  
  
The man did not know what was going on, but as he heard strange, yet somehow comforting words, he started to come back to his senses.  
  
He was lying on the ground and was in great pain. There were several tall men, no, elves, with long golden hair standing around him. One who was taller than the others and had dark hair approached the man and asked him something. The man did not respond; he did not hear. The man looked around at the desolate town. Houses were burnt to the ground, the remnants still smoldering. Frantically he scanned around for any trace of Hithlain or his daughter. His eyes swept across the ground until they came to rest upon a crumpled figure ten yards away. He gasped as he recognized the curly black locks. Getting onto his hands and knees he crawled over to her. Arrows were stuck in her back. Dried blood was caked around them and on her face. The man started to cry as he picked her up and held her in his arms. This woman that had given him so much, love, feelings, a life he never thought he could have, was dead. And their only child, lost. It overwhelmed the man and he wept for his lost love.  
  
The elves just stood by and left the man to do what he would. They did not understand death, except for maybe the dark-haired one. For he was the Lord Elrond, and understood many things.  
  
After the man had cried himself to sleep, the elves retrieved him and put him upon a horse. They rode back to Rivendell in silence. 


	3. Stranger in the Shadows

Disclaimer: not mine!! Note: I can't think of anything to say right now, except that I am quite bereft at the fact that the last time I checked one, yes one person has read my story, or at least reviewed it. Is it really that boring? Well then, I'll have to spice it up a little! Hmm.more blood? More battles? Deep dark evil secrets? Sounds good to me!! But where to begin?  
Stranger in the Shadows  
  
The man awoke again with bandages around his head, arms, and chest. He was in a bed that had a tangle of branches for a headboard; clearly a room of Elven creation. Before, being touched by anything made by the elves would have been enough to send him into a screaming fit of writhing pain. But now, after Hithlain, he did not care. All feelings were gone. He was just.there. A mindless zombie who did nothing but sit and stare out into space.  
  
Later, lord Elrond came to speak with the man and ask him some questions. The man didn't answer at first. His eyes would just wander. Dark black pits they were; empty. They reminded Elrond of the ashes left after a fire has been smothered with water. The scar across the man's face was also curious.  
  
"What is your name?" Elrond asked.  
  
"I have none. I am worthy of none, save Monster," replied the man darkly.  
  
"Would you care to at least tell me who you are?"  
  
"I do not know. I am not sure I ever really knew. Just a tool, something He could bend to do His will," he said bitterly.  
  
"who is this man you speak of?" Elrond questioned.  
  
"Not a man," he said. "Far from it." And the man would say no more.  
  
The next day Elrond asked him the same questions, but got the same answers. This continued for several days, until the man stopped talking all together and Elrond decided that the man had suffered enough torture in his life, and deserved to live out the rest of his days in peace and quiet. Though the man never really enjoyed any peace at all. * * * * * (Okay-I know I promised a little more action, but it's gonna take me a little longer to get there. Please keep reading!)  
  
Time passed slowly for the man. He spent days gazing out his window into the forests of Rivendell. He hardly ate, never slept, and hardly said more than two recognizable words. He did mumble quite often however, and most of the elves thought him very queer.  
  
For years the man sat by his window and muttered; replaying visions of his past life over and over again in his head. Until one day, a strange shadow appeared on the outskirts of the valley. It was seen slinking through the trees, mostly at night, and brought an uneasiness to the elves of Rivendell.  
  
Guards began to watch the shadow closely. When chance came that the shadow wandered too close to the city, the watch-elves trapped the figure and brought him before Elrond.  
  
At the unmasking of the hooded and cloaked figure, all were treated with an astonishing sight. The masked person was a woman. And not just a woman, but the female version of the man by the window!  
  
Her eyes glowed as a fire shrouded in black smoke. A scar jutted across her right cheek, cutting up underneath her eye and over the lid. Black ebony curls fell to her shoulders. She frightened the lesser elves with her piercing stare.  
  
The man from the ruined village was now old, bent and graying, yet one could still see a remarkable resemblance. Elrond remembered that the man had mumbled something once about his daughter; Simbelmynë, who had been taken by orcs during the raid. He wondered if this could be the same girl.  
  
Elrond went to the man's room to ask him about his daughter.  
  
"Many years have you been here in our care," he said," and yet I know now more of you than the first day we met. Will you tell me nothing of your past?"  
  
the man remained gazing out the window, but answered;  
  
"My past is not something I wish to share. It is too terrible for sharing. My wife was a pure, gentle, beautiful woman. She saved me from darkness, though she did not know. But now she is dead of my doing. She is rotting beneath the earth and will never again walk through the green fields barefoot because of me!"  
  
"What about your daughter? Surely she has been looking for you?" Elrond suggested.  
  
The man then turned and stared into Elrond's eyes.  
  
"My daughter has been dead for 25 years. A short time that may seem to you, but to those whose lives do not last forever, it is a long time."  
  
"What if I was to tell you that I believe I have found your daughter?"  
  
"Then I would tell you that you are a liar."  
  
Elrond got up, walked to the door, and motioned for the elves outside to bring the young maiden in.  
  
She stood at the door, tall, cloaked, and silent. The man stared back up at her from his chair. Elrond and the other elves quietly left and shut the door behind them.  
  
"Who are you?" asked the man. The girl didn't respond. Instead she threw off her hood to reveal her long black hair, jagged scar, and fiery black eyes. The man gasped.  
  
"Simbelmynë?" he breathed.  
  
"That is a flower, old man. I hope you do not mean to call me a flower," said the woman.  
  
"But how? They took you away. Simbelmynë?" sputtered the man. "Daughter?"  
  
"I am certainly no daughter of yours," she spat," despite what those ruddy elves seems to think. Though by that mark on your face I'd say we have come from the same place." She walked over to the man.  
  
"No," he sighed. "This can't be."  
  
"Why did you desert Him?" she asked. "Not very wise, I don't think. You can be sure though, that when I get back I will inform Him of your treason. He will be sure to punish you."  
  
"I have been punished enough," said the man. "Death would bring comfort to me now, and no amount of torture that He could inflict would cause me more pain than what I have already been through. Especially now, that you are here, my baby, but are lost in Darkness."  
  
"Poor lad," mocked the woman. "Afraid of the Dark? You best get used to it, my friend. For soon all the world will be covered in it."  
  
Just then Elrond reentered the room. The girl threw her hood back over her head and followed the elf out of the room.  
  
"Lord Elrond," called the man.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"That was no daughter of mine," he lied. "Lock her up. She is evil. Never let her out of your sight."  
  
Elrond made no reply, but looked solemnly upon the man. Despite the fact that he knew little of the man and his life, Elrond had had somewhat the same feeling, and for some reason believed whole-heartedly in the old man in front of him. He left the room and put out orders to keep the young woman imprisoned. * * * * * Several days went by with the girl in Rivendell. Elrond became more nervous about the girl as the Ring of Power was discovered and brought to Rivendell. He called together a meeting of all the races of Middle-earth. During the council he was so distracted that he did not notice a dark shadow lurking among the trees.  
  
It was finally decided that the young Frodo Baggins, a hobbit, would take the Ring to Mordor and cast it into the fires of Mount Doom to destroy it. he would be accompanied by Gandalf the Grey, Aragorn son of Arathorn, Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood, Gimli son of Gloin, Boromir of Gondor, Samwise Gamgee (Frodo's gardener) and two other hobbits of the Shire named Meriadoc (Merry) Brandybuck and Peregrin (Pippin) Took.  
  
The Fellowship was to set out the next day, and after they had left Elrond began to collect himself again. He finally remembered about the girl, but when he went to check on her, she was gone. 


	4. The Fellowship

The Fellowship  
  
The Fellowship trudged on for days, weeks, under the leadership of Gandalf the Grey, but suffered great tragedy when he fell into shadow with a Balrog of Morgoth. It weighed heavily on everyone's minds, and not even the mallorn trees of Lothlorien could ease their grief. Their worries were only increased when they received a message from Lord Elrond, saying that a potentially dangerous man had escaped from Rivendell. So they pressed on with great caution.  
  
Legolas was paddling down the Anduin with Gimli, when he suddenly felt the faint presence of shadow. He swiveled his head around, but his keen Elven eyes could not see anything amongst the trees along the shore.  
  
At the end of the day the companions docked their boats and prepared camp. When the sun dipped below the horizon Legolas took up the watch. Sitting there in silence he looked up at the stars. As he lifted his head, his eyes caught the flicker of a strange shadow. He snatched at his bow and peered into the trees, but saw nothing.  
  
A few hours later he roused Gimli for his watch, while the elf lay down to wander in his own dream fields.  
  
In the morning, before the sun had even peeked through the clouds, they repacked their bags prepared to continue down the river. Before long, however, Merry noticed someone missing.  
  
"Where's Frodo?" he asked.  
  
The others stopped what they were doing and when they realized that the Ringbearer was missing they took off into the woods looking for him.  
  
"Frodo?" cried Aragorn. "Frodo? Where are you?"  
  
"Frodo!" Legolas yelled as he walked through the trees. Suddenly he heard a quiet gasp, then hard labored breathing. "Frodo!?" he called, running to where the gasp had come from.  
  
He soon came upon Frodo, who was sitting against a tree, clutching the chain around his neck and having trouble breathing.  
  
"Frodo," whispered Legolas as he knelt beside the hobbit. "What happened? Are you alright?" Frodo looked up at him, his eyes wide in horror.  
  
"Ring!" he gasped.  
  
Legolas saw the empty chain, and asked "Where is it?"  
  
"Grabbing." Frodo wheezed, "prying fingers.cold.dark.took"  
  
"Where is it?" Legolas asked more demandingly. Frodo lifted his arm and pointed off to the right. * * * * * 


	5. Hostage

Disclaimer: LOTR is not mine!!!!  
  
Author's Note: Again, I am sorry for not posting in so long. Not that anyone reads this story anyway! Oh well. Here's the next chapter:  
  
Hostage  
  
Legolas looked up just in time to see a black cloak disappear behind a tree. He sprang to his feet and sprinted off after it. As he neared, a dark cloaked figure on a jet-black stallion came bursting out in front of him. He quickly unleashed an arrow. Surprisingly, he missed.  
  
The horse leaped forward and began twisting and turning through the trees. Legolas ran after it, shooting off more arrows, until finally, one hit his target.  
  
The sharp tip bore into the rider's flesh, directly between the shoulder blades. They gasped and lurched forward, but remained in the saddle.  
  
Legolas grasped the rider and pulled them off their horse. They went tumbling onto the ground and sprang back up to face Legolas. The elf stared into the black figure's hood and saw only two dim glowing eyes staring back at him. The figure reached back, yanked the arrow from their back, drew a sword from inside its robes and crouched, ready for an attack. Legolas whipped out his knives and advanced upon the wounded and bleeding cloaked figure.  
  
Their swords clashed and clanged, echoing through the trees. The hooded stranger wielded his sword with amazing skill, and frightening malice. Legolas narrowly avoided its sharp blade several times, until somehow the stranger pinned him against a tree. He was about to slit Legolas's throat when Aragorn came running up. He barreled into the figure and they rolled over. Aragorn drew his sword and was about to plunge it into the cloaked monster's robes, when the hood fell back to reveal a young woman. He was somewhat taken aback and hesitated for a moment.  
  
The girl was breathing heavily, gasping desperately for air, and was drenched in sweat. She glared at Aragorn with the utmost hatred. Aragorn looked at her curiously and noticed a little blood begin to trickle from her mouth.  
  
"What is going on?" he asked.  
  
Legolas righted himself and stood next to Aragorn.  
  
"I found Frodo," he explained, "and he said that someone took the Ring. I asked him whom, and he pointed towards this woman who was running off into the shadows. I followed and tried to get the Ring back."  
  
"Did you stab her?" Aragorn asked.  
  
"No," Legolas answered. "I shot her, but she pulled the arrow out."  
  
"Go back and tend to Frodo," said Aragorn curtly. Legolas looked from Aragorn to the girl and back, then turned and left. "Get up," he told the girl. She didn't move, so Aragorn grabbed her arm and dragged her to her feet.  
  
He began marching her back to camp when he noticed that the back of her robes were drenched in blood. That must be where he shot her, he realized. Before he could do anything to help ease the girl's pain, she took off running. Aragorn let out a cry of shock, then went after her. She hadn't gone far, however, when she suddenly collapsed on the ground. Aragorn approached her and rolled her over. She was unconscious, probably from blood loss. He picked her up and carried her back to camp.  
  
At the camp Aragorn attended to the young woman's wound. As he did so he came across something small, round and hard in one of her pockets. For fear of touching the Ring himself, he quickly called Frodo over to fish it out.  
  
When it was light out, and time to leave, Aragorn faced the problem of boats. Where was he going to put this extra body? Eventually, he decided to bind her hands and feet, blindfold her, then switch Sam and Gimli, and stick the girl in the boat with Legolas and Sam. * * * * * Legolas did not like the idea of bringing someone with them who had tried to steal the One Ring. It was dangerous and just plain stupid. It would be better to just kill her, he thought. What was Aragorn thinking?  
  
A few hours into the day, the hostage jerked back to reality and almost toppled the boat.  
  
"Stay still," demanded Legolas.  
  
The girl stiffened at the sound of his voice. As she realized that she was bound tight with sturdy elven rope, she silently cursed herself for getting into herself into this situation.  
  
Being blindfolded made the journey an extremely boring one for the girl, but she sat there the entire time without moving or saying anything. She was unaware of the bandage around her chest and the gaping hole in her back, for she was quite accustomed to pain.  
  
The sun was about an hour from setting when the Fellowship pulled their boats ashore. Legolas led the girl further into the trees, sat her down, and tied her to one of the large trunks. He didn't want her too close to Frodo. He pulled off her blindfold and she glared up at him. Suddenly her eyes widened in a mixture of horror and anger. When she didn't say anything, however, Legolas left. - - - - I've seen those eyes before, thought the girl frantically. Where do I know them from? They are the ones that have haunted me for so long. I must put them out. Then she started to whisper.  
  
"Destroy him," she muttered as Legolas came back with a small piece of lembas bread. As he approached her, he could hear her quietly muttering to herself: "Destroy him, kill him, put out the lights."  
  
This made Legolas quite uneasy. Without giving the girl any bread, he called for Aragorn.  
  
Aragorn appeared through the trees in a second, and asked "What is it?"  
  
"Listen," Legolas instructed.  
  
"Kill him, kill him," the girl continued to mumble.  
  
Legolas looked to Aragorn. "She's mad! She is going to try to kill Frodo! We should get rid of her now. There is no need to endanger the Quest any further."  
  
"We can't do anything yet, Legolas," Aragorn replied. At the mention of Legolas's name, the girl snapped her head up and stared at the Elf with giant, fiery eyes. In attempt to keep her from over-hearing, Aragorn and Legolas began speaking in Elvish.  
  
"We must get rid of her," said Legolas. "She is a danger to Frodo, the Ring, and the entire mission itself."  
  
"I have sent a message to Lord Elrond's errand riders. They will come to take her away," answered Aragorn.  
  
"We cannot wait that long! By the time they reach us she could already have sabotaged the whole quest!"  
  
"Those were Elrond's orders. This is his prisoner. Not ours. We will do as he says."  
  
"This is foolish. You are jeopardizing everything. We must kill her. She tried to take the Ring! She is evil! I did not take you to be so naïve." Legolas shook his head.  
  
"And I did not take Elves to be so bloodthirsty," said a voice that did not belong to Aragorn.  
  
The two companions wheeled around to find the young woman they had captured no longer tied to the tree, but standing directly behind them.  
  
Aragorn drew his sword and grabbed the woman. "Who are you!?" he screamed in frustration. The girl remained silent. "Tell me, or I'll slit your throat," Aragorn threatened. There was a brief moment of silence, then the girl looked at Legolas and said:  
  
"He knows." 


	6. Remembering the Past

NOTE: Thanks for viewing for those who are reading this. Let me know what you think! I'm really sorry for not posting in almost two months! Hope you enjoy. Only one more chapter after this left!  
  
Remembering the Past  
  
Legolas was in shock and in his surprise he knocked Aragorn over, whipped an arrow out of his quiver and held it to her throat.  
  
"Don't play games with me!" he shouted.  
  
"Aw, don't tell me you don't remember me," the girl said sarcastically.  
  
Legolas began to grow angry with her antics. He pressed his arrow tip closer to her skin. "You are not deceiving me, witch. Tell me who you are, or I will push this arrowhead further into your flesh." She grinned wickedly, and then strangely began to sing.  
  
"A Elbereth Gilthoniel, Silivren penna miriel, omenel aglar elenath! O galad hremmin ennorath, Fancibs le linnathon." As she chanted these words, Legolas' eyes widened and suddenly understood. "nef aear, ref aearon!" With these last words Legolas dropped his arrow and stepped back. He was suddenly breathless.  
  
"Legolas, what is the matter? Do you know this girl?" Aragorn asked.  
  
Legolas couldn't answer, he was too astonished. He had once taught that song to a small girl, years ago. Was this girl, this woman in front of him, implying that she was the child he had taken care of so long ago? It couldn't be. He looked up. She didn't look anything like the little girl.  
  
"Remember now?" asked the woman mockingly.  
  
Legolas didn't understand. How could such a sweet, innocent child turn into the servant of the Dark Lord? How did she fall succumb to darkness? What happened?  
  
"How sweet," the girl cooed. "he does remember!"  
  
"Hush!" Legolas spat, as he proceeded to rebind her hands. "We mustn't let her out of our sight," he then said to Aragorn. "She is slippery."  
  
* * * *  
  
That night, Legolas kept a close watch on the girl. He did not 'sleep' as the others did, and neither, it seemed, did his captive.  
  
In the morning, the Fellowship again departed and though it was obvious that the others had questions about their newest member, Aragorn and Legolas said nothing.  
  
The girl had had enough of sitting in the boat, motionless, speechless and blind. And so, to annoy her companions and to amuse her self, she started insulting them with compliments.  
  
"Lle holma ve'edan ar'clolle haa lost," she told Legolas in the Elven tongue.  
  
"What?" he asked in subtle shock. "How dare you."  
  
"What happened?" asked Sam. "What did she say?"  
  
"Oh, do you not understand the language of the Elves, my good hobbit?" said the girl amusedly. "Then let me translate for you." She raised her voice and shouted, "You smell like a man and your head is empty!"  
  
Those in the other boats all swerved their heads to see what was going on.  
  
"Lle haa nagorhuan," she continued. "You are a cowardly dog!"  
  
"If you don't cease that nonsense now, lady," Legolas said, "I will rip out your tongue."  
  
"Go kiss an orc, smelly one," she retorted. For the rest of the day, the girl continued on with her insults. "Your thighs are like young oaks! They creek in the wind!" she told Aragorn. Then to Legolas she said, "Small buzzing creatures are attracted to the light in your eyes." By the time they docked their boats, the girl had ticked off just about everyone in the Fellowship, and she was quite pleased with herself.  
  
Legolas tied her up with extra caution so that she would not slip through the ropes again. As he did so, he yearned to ask her and know what had happened to her. She leaned back against her tree and acted very nonchalant about the whole situation. Legolas took this opportunity to question her.  
  
"Kama?" he asked tentatively. He was not sure how she would react to being called by her childhood name. Without looking at him, the girl spoke.  
  
"Kama? Hmm, yes. That is what I was called once." Then she looked at Legolas. "But do not address me by that name again. I am Burzum now." Legolas cringed when she said the word burzum as if it were her name. It was a word from the Black Speech of Mordor; the language of the Dark Lord himself.  
  
"I suppose it bothers you that I have been given such a title," continued the girl, Burzum. "But it is who I am, what I am." The two sat in silence for a few moments before Legolas asked what was on his mind.  
  
"So you are Kama, the little girl I found in the woods. Do you remember the time we spent together?" he asked softly. He had loved this girl like a daughter.  
  
"Yes, I remember, despite my efforts to forget it."  
  
"Why would you want to forget it? You were happy then."  
  
"Yes, until you tried to send me back," she glared briefly at him. "But yes, everything was quite happy and fluffy there."  
  
"You say that like it is a bad thing. Isn't being happy good?"  
  
Burzum lowered her voice and growled, "I hate fluff."  
  
"What happened?" Legolas questioned suddenly. "Where did they take you?"  
  
"That is none of your concern," she snapped. "Let us just say that I went on to bigger and better things."  
  
"How can you call being a slave of the Dark Lord Sauron a bigger and better thing?"  
  
"You do not know what I am or what I do. Though I can hardly call a life of uncertainty much better."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Before I came here, to Middle-earth, I traveled all over. I had no real family, no real home. Switching from one place to another every month or even week. I could be sure of nothing. One week I'd be with a kind family, then the next I'd be beaten for every trivial thing. In Darkness I could find my only comfort. For there, I could make things the way I wanted them to be. Now quite what you'd call pleasant is it? Then I met you. Oh, how world of the Elves seemed so much better to me than anything I'd ever known before. At first, of course, I thought I'd finally found a real home. But, sadly, no. I was stabbed in the back; you were trying to send me back to that hell hole, and I couldn't understand why. So naturally, when the chance came to live in a world that was certain, I took it."  
  
"But why? You did not have to live in darkness or in shadow! You can come back to the light! Away from evil and pain! Why no come back?" Legolas plead.  
  
"No," answered Burzum. "I like living in darkness in the Land of Mordor where the shadows lie. I am Darkness now, and that works for me."  
  
~~~~  
  
Later that night, while the company was sleeping and Burzum had shut up, Legolas suddenly remembered a note he had received from Elrond back in Lothlorien. He had not given much thought to it before, but for some reason he now felt that it needed another closer look.  
  
Pulling it from a pocket in a vest and unrolling it, he leaned back to read it.  
  
Legolas, it read. I am writing to you now to inform you of a possible threat to the Fellowship. A woman, the daughter of the man I found in the ruined village in Rohan, has disappeared from Rivendell. I did not have reason to suspect her of anything before, but I have just spoken to her father, who insists that she is dangerous. I am not sure what he meant by this, but be careful all the same. Be on the lookout of a woman in black. Good luck, and be swift  
  
~Elrond  
  
Legolas finished reading the note and put it back in the pocket. Well, he had found the woman in black; or rather she had found them. But it was hard fro him to think of her as anything but the sweet little Kama he once knew. He knew that he should get rid of her, for the good of the Fellowship, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. He had almost died of grief when she had been taken from him and a part of him believed that she could still come back; be good again. But even her own father said she was dangerous.  
  
Wait, Legolas thought, father? Elrond had said her father! How could her father be in Middle-earth, from Rohan? Hadn't she come through a porthole from another world? None of this was making any sense. There was a man in Rivendell claiming to be Kama's, now Burzum, father? How was that possible? Unless she had not actually come from another realm, but she had to be. They had seen her sister looking for her. Perhaps her father had come through the porthole as well. No, that wouldn't work, Legolas told himself. Burzum had told him that she had no family. She insisted that she had no parents, yet this man in Rivendell insisted that Burzum was his daughter. Someone had to be lying. Either that, or Burzum just didn't know or remember her father.  
  
Legolas pondered over the letter and the story of Burzum all through the night until the company set off down the river again.  
  
As he paddled, Legolas tried to talk to Burzum again, but she was not was not as open as the night before.  
  
"Please," Legolas asked in the elvish tongue, "talk to me. What of your father who is back in Rivendell? I thought you were from another world."  
  
She said nothing.  
  
"Please!" he plead. "I must know! I . . . I . . . loved you like a daughter!"  
  
"You broke your promise." Burzum said shortly.  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"You said you would never let anything happen to me. You said you wouldn't let go. But you did. I waited for you to come and rescue me, bring me back to live happily ever after, but no. Now I am here, as I am."  
  
"I thought you had died!" Legolas cried. "I thought you had died. You don't know what it is like slowly dying of grief. You don't know what it was like spending all those years in the dark, knowing that the one person you had ever loved was gone."  
  
"It makes no difference now, though."  
  
"Kama, what happened? Where did they take you? What did they do to you?"  
  
Burzum fell silent and wound respond to no more questions. A few moments after, Legolas gave up his questioning. Burzum began to chant softly.  
  
"Ash nazg durbatuluk," she muttered as dark clouds began to cover the sky. "Ash nazg gimbatul. Ash nazg thrakatuluk agn burzum ishi krimpatul."  
  
The clouds thinned after Burzum had finished, but Legolas still felt a chill come over him. He had heard those words before at the Council, when Gandalf had chanted them. It was the language of the Dark Lord; the Black Speech. It meant: One Ring to Rule them all. One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all and in the Darkness bind them.  
  
This made Legolas very uneasy. Why was she saying these things? Was she planning to do something? Though Burzum said nothing more the rest of the day, Legolas still did not shake his feeling of anxiousness.  
  
The Fellowship was docking one last time before crossing the river to the eastern shore to continue on their journey to Mordor. Legolas's feeling of dread had intensified during the last few hours, but no matter what he said, Aragorn refused to go any further.  
  
"We must not linger here," said Legolas.  
  
"Orcs patrol the eastern shore. We rest here 'til nightfall," answered Aragorn.  
  
"It is not the eastern shore that worries me. A shadow and a threat have been growing on my mind. Something draws near; I can feel it."  
  
Aragorn did not listen, however, and continued to make camp.  
  
Legolas went to check on Burzum who had had tied up earlier with extra rope. He arrived at the tree, but she was not there. In her place was the rope; it appeared to have been burned until it frayed apart.  
  
"This is bad," Legolas muttered. He quickly ran back to camp where he found even more distressing new. Frodo was gone again, and so was Boromir.  
  
"Aragorn!" Legolas shouted. "She had escaped again!" He heard Aragorn curse quietly to himself.  
  
"Split up!" he said, "Find Frodo!"  
  
* * * * 


	7. Parting Ways

She ran swiftly through the trees, jumping over fallen logs and dodging low- hanging branches. Stopping back at the Fellowship's camp, she retrieved her cloak and sword that Aragorn had taken from her earlier.  
  
The Uruks were drawing closer; they would soon be upon them. And then the batter would begin. The Ring would be hers, and those eyes that had been haunting her in her dreams would be put out.  
  
With extra ordinary speed, Burzum went deeper and deeper into the forest. Shortly, she came upon a large company of orcs. They halted when the reached her. Burzum whistled shortly and a great black stallion came galloping up from the ranks. It stopped and reared in front of her. Burzum hooked her foot in the stirrup and swung herself over the horse. A shadowy black figure a top a great black horse; she was a menacing sight.  
  
"Forward!" she cried as she thrust her sword forward.  
  
The giant Uruk-Hai leapt forward and surged around the figure of darkness as a wave swells onto the shore.  
  
* * * *  
  
There were orcs everywhere. Legolas was rattling off arrows relentlessly. How could there be so many? Another and another came rushing at him. Suddenly he heard a cold, raspy voice coming from just over the hill.  
  
"Halflings!" it cried, "Find the Halflings!"  
  
Then as Legolas turned, and awesome cloaked figure upon a magnificent black horse appeared over the crest of the hill. The face of the rider was shrouded in darkness and with two glowing pinpricks of fire hidden amongst the depths. The horse and rider swiveled their heads towards Legolas and as they came down the knoll the rider unsheathed its sword with a sharp, clear ring.  
  
Legolas could not see as well as he would have liked in the dusk, but he knew who was slowly advancing upon him. The little girl he had flirted with death for; Kama; Burzum; Darkness.  
  
How ironic, he thought, that he was now forced to confront the one person he had once fought viciously to protect.  
  
Burzum drew closer and Legolas came out of his trance. He loaded and arrow and reluctantly shot at the shadow. She ducked and the arrow whizzed harmlessly past.  
  
Legolas did his best to put it in his mind that this was an enemy to kill, not a sweet little girl. It was kill or be killed. He loaded another arrow, aimed, and fired. Burzum swung her sword out in front of her and deflected the arrow away.  
  
With growing anger, he fired shots more rapidly and with as much accuracy as he could muster. Burzum kept coming through; like the darkness of night slowly creeping into the corners of the world. And just like the night, all at once she was upon him, slashing and slicing she hacked at Legolas with vengeance. He did his best to defend himself with the cloaked horsewoman, but he was always on the defensive.  
  
All at once, Burzum jumped off her horse to face Legolas on the ground. She hardly gave him any time to react, for as soon as her feet were on the ground she came after him with her sword pulsed.  
  
The two raged on for what seemed like hors. The sun was beginning to set over the hill, but neither warrior relented.  
  
Aragorn and Gimli then came upon them. They saw the distress that Legolas was in and ran to help him.  
  
The sun glinted through the tree tops and for a brief moment Legolas faltered. Burzum seized this opportunity and sunk her sword deep into Legolas's abdomen.  
  
Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. He fell to his knees and looked up. Burzum turned swiftly and remounted her stead. She whirled the horse around and spurred him back over the hill. When she reached the top she stopped, threw back her hood and reared up. As Legolas slipped into unconsciousness he watched the woman of darkness ride off and disappear into the sunset. 


End file.
